The Last Dance
by SuicidalSpiders
Summary: Every year, on the second night before the students went home for the summer holidays, Hogwarts held a ball for the upperclassmen, and it was a tradition for the Head Boy and Girl to pick one of the teachers to dance with during the last dance of the evening. AU after OotP.


This is a cute little story I thought up a while ago that I finally decided to actually write down in prose form, and not just let it stew as an outline in my documents folder for eternity. lol I have an outline for a second chapter, as well, so this might eventually turn into a two-shot if I get around to writing it out. This works well enough on its own, though, so I felt the need to publish it anyway, just to say I've done so once. lol Thank you to my bestest friend, StrangeOne0828, for always being my personal cheerleader. Love you, babe. :P

The only thing that's really important to know beforehand, is that it's AU after OotP. The Dark Lord is gone, Dumbledore died, Sev was exonerated, and Minerva is Headmistress.

Enjoy!

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Every year, on the second night before the students went home for the summer holidays, Hogwarts held a ball for the upperclassmen to celebrate the end of exams, and to give the seventh year students one last hurrah before they left to start their adult lives. It was also a tradition at this ball, for the Head Boy and Girl to pick one of the teachers to dance with during the last dance of the evening. It was a rather silly tradition, where they lined up all of the teachers and made a big show of it, but it was serious enough that there was almost always a betting pool amongst the staff for who would get chosen. This year's Head Boy and Girl were Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hermione Granger, so naturally, everyone had bet on Professors Sprout and Lupin to be picked.

Severus let out an exasperated sigh as the Headmistress forcibly pushed him to stand in line with the rest of the staff. He didn't know why Minerva cared, it wasn't like he would be picked. He had only ever been chosen twice in his 18 years of teaching at Hogwarts, and only because the Head Girl those particular years had been in Slytherin. He rolled his eyes and sighed again as Miss Granger and Mr Finch-Fletchley started going down the line. He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for the ridiculous charade to be over, so that he could leave; there was a bottle Ogden's Finest in his desk with his name on it. To no one's surprise, Mr Finch-Fletchley stopped in front of Pomona and, with a great flourishing bow that made the crowd titter, he asked her to dance.

Hermione, who had her hair tamed into an elegant up do and was dressed in a beautiful set of crimson robes with gold trim, waited for Justin to lead Professor Sprout onto the dancefloor before she made her pick. A hush fell over the cheering crowd as she walked straight past Remus, and stood in front of a very bored and 'over it' looking Professor Snape, who was examining his nails on one hand. Her heart hammered in her chest. 'You can do this,' she thought to herself, gathering up every ounce of Gryffindor courage she had as she extended her hand towards him. There was a great likelihood that he would sneer and bitingly advise her to move along, but she knew she still had to try.

'Professor Snape,' she said with far more confidence than she felt, 'may I have this dance?'

Severus' heart skipped a beat. He looked down at Miss Granger's small, elegant hand, then slowly raised his gaze to the hopeful smile on her face. He was so astonished, that it took him a moment to realise what was happening, and even longer to compose his features. He narrowed his eyes, wondering what on earth she was up to, but he couldn't see inside her mind. It seemed that, unlike Potter, she had perfected the art of Occlumency.

This whole exchange lasted for less than a minute, but it was long enough for Hermione's smile to falter as she stood awkwardly in the silent Hall, waiting for Professor Snape's answer. To her (and everyone's) great shock, and as if in slow motion, he uncrossed his arms, took her hand in his own large, calloused one, and lead her onto the dancefloor. Her breath caught as he slipped his arm around her waist and drew her close to him. She looked up at him with a smile that she hoped didn't betray her nerves. She was certain the whole Hall could hear her heart trying to pummel its way through her ribcage. His expression, however, was unreadable.

Severus warily eyed the young woman in his arms. He could tell she was nervous. While she may have been successful at blocking entry into her mind, she clearly still lacked the ability to hide the tide of emotions washing over her face. This did nothing to ease his own nerves. He was still at a complete loss as to why she had picked him, of all people, over that mangy wolf, Lupin. He felt her stiffen slightly as he began to move in step with the music that had begun to play, and noted her racing pulse. Surely she was planning something; this had to be part of a prank that her insolent little friends had put her up to. Despite his suspicions, however, he continued to move her around the dancefloor. Though he steeled himself for anything they had planned to embarrass their most hated teacher one last time.

'Breathe, just breathe,' Hermione thought to herself. She couldn't believe this was actually happening. She was being led around the Hall in the arms of the formidable Severus Snape. It was obvious that he was a very tall man, easily a foot taller than herself, but having never been so close to him before, the difference was quite startling to her now. Even in the sky-high heels Ginny had somehow convinced her to wear, the top of her head barely reached his shoulders. And he smelled so good, like cedar and herbs. Had he always smelled like this, or had he put something on especially for the occasion? She could feel her face growing hot, and quickly stamped down on these thoughts for fear of him noticing.

Other couples began to join them, and the music started to pick up pace, eventually becoming a lively waltz with a lot of skips, hops, and turns. Severus was amazed he still knew all the steps to this rather complicated dance, and was suddenly very grateful for the dancing lessons Lucius had forced him through in his youth. He was also mildly relieved to see that Miss Granger was beginning to relax in his arms. She seemed to be enjoying herself; she laughed and exclaimed with every turn, blushing prettily as he weaved them through the many couples around them.

Hermione was pleasantly surprised to find Professor Snape to be such an excellent dancer. He held her gently, but firmly in his strong arms, and never missed a step. She couldn't help but exclaim with glee as he whisked her around the Hall, and was pleased to see that he appeared to be enjoying himself as well. Her Gryffindor courage had paid off, and she was having the time of her life.

Miss Granger's brilliant smile and joyous laughter were infectious, and even Severus had a difficult time hiding his own amusement as he twirled her around. He stared down at her, suddenly mesmerised. No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, he was very quickly becoming smitten. How had he not noticed her turn from an awkward little girl into a stunning young woman? All thoughts of her possibly having an ulterior motive for dancing with him left his mind the longer he watched her.

As the music began to slow, and the dance came to an end, Hermione, who was quite out of breath by now, beamed up at Professor Snape. Without warning, he pulled her into a low dip. She let out a small yelp of startled delight and grabbed the lapel of his frockcoat. She could feel her face growing hot again as she noticed the look of amusement dancing in his eyes and the ghost of a genuine smile on his lips as he peered down at her. He pulled her back upright, but they didn't let go of each other. Time appeared to stop as they got lost in each other's gaze, an unknown force drawing her deep into the seemingly endless depths of his obsidian eyes.

All at once, the cacophony of sound in the Hall came rushing back to Severus' ears, pulling him out of his trance. The music had fully stopped by now, and everyone was applauding and cheering the band, who were taking their bows. He quickly disentangled himself from Miss Granger and took a step backwards. He cleared his throat and stared at the ground, worried he'd fall back into her enchanting cinnamon brown eyes if he continued to look at her any longer.

'Goodnight, Miss Granger,' he said curtly, with a small bow. Before he could straighten up, however, Miss Granger placed a tentative hand on his cheek and planted a lingering kiss on his other cheek.

'Goodnight, Severus,' she said softly, and walked away, leaving a very shocked and confused man in her wake.


End file.
